Shedding 'Bush baggage'

It was reported yesterday that United States president-elect Barack Obama had undertaken to pull troops out of Iraq, crush al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and shut down the Guantanamo Bay camp, a dramatic programme signalling a complete break with the foreign policy of George W. Bush.

This news will be widely welcomed. It is highly desirable that the U.S. withdraw from places where it has no business to be. It’s also important that Obama take steps to shed as much as possible of the “Bush baggage” as soon as he assumes office. But should joy be unconfined, or should we wait and see? One possibility, after all, is that Obama, in his keenness to stress the difference between himself and Bush, concerns himself more with withdrawal than with engagement and so might have set the U.S. on a path of retreat into isolationism. Let us hope that he and hisadvisers are not lured along that route, but are rather encouraged to adopt the European model of collaboration and negotiation in international affairs. The U.S. would thus be better able to respond constructively to the demands which will continue to be made of it as the richest and most powerful nation on the globe.

Even as the world waits for Obama’s full foreign affairs package to take shape and to be implemented though, no thinking person can fail to be hopeful, following this evidence of his determination to let in light and air, and return the U.S. to civilisation.

Join the conversation!

24.com encourages commentary submitted via MyNews24. Contributions of 200 words or more will be considered for publication.

We reserve editorial discretion to decide what will be published. Read our comments policy for guidelines on contributions.

24.com publishes all comments posted on articles provided that they adhere to our Comments Policy. Should you wish to report a comment for editorial review, please do so by clicking the 'Report Comment' button to the right of each comment.

Tell us a bit about yourself:

Saving your profile

Settings

News24 allows you to edit the display of certain components based on a location.
If you wish to personalise the page based on your preferences, please select a
location for each component and click "Submit" in order for the changes to
take affect.

Your Location*

Weather*

Always remember my setting

Saving your settings

Facebook Sign-In

Hi News addict,

Join the News24 Community to be involved in breaking the news.

Log in with Facebook to comment and personalise news, weather and listings.